Asman describes in the 7th and 8th paragraph of his column, "...every penny of the millions raised with the new tax will go right to animal shelters. Just like every penny raised in Social Security taxes goes right into your Social Security trust fund. Not!

Politicians always lie about where tax dollars go. They claim that certain taxes will go into a specific fund or service and it ends up going into general revenues."

I don't know which politicians have burned him, but had he read the legislation (S.4494) he would have read, "The tax imposed pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the "animal shelter and wildlife rehabilitation support fund" established pursuant to section...."

There is absolutely no question that the tax collected under this bill would be deposited in the fund, specifically set up under this legislation. Additionally, the legislation lays out the means by which the tax will be distributed. Eighty-five percent of the monies will be distributed to no-kill shelters and the remaining 15 percent will be sent to wildlife rehabilitators.

Senator Padavan adamantly stands behind this bill as a means to curb the inhumane and unnecessary slaughter of helpless pets throughout the state. We additionally take issue with the entire tone of the article, especially from a writer who couldn't take the time to reach out to the senator, but I know there is little we can do about that.